Cavaliers Upset North Carolina 11-5
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March 19, 2005
The #6 Virginia women’s lacrosse team used a stifling defense that did not allow #4 Carolina a goal for the first 17 minutes of both halves en route to an 11-5 victory on Saturday (March 19) in Chapel Hill, NC. The Cavaliers were led by keeper Ginger Miles, who had a career-high 15 saves, including seven on UNC’s first eight shots, to help Virginia burst out to a 4-0 lead. Line defenders Ashley Dodson and Molly Urlock both had four ground balls to lead Virginia while at the other end of the field Amy Appelt notched the 300th point of her career with one of her patented crease rolls, one of her three goals on the day., which led the Cavalier attack.
Carolina controlled the opening draw of the game but a Miles save led to a Cavalier possession. In Virginia’s offensive zone, the patient Cavalier attack worked the ball to Courtney Young, who scored on an attack from underneath, bouncing a shot into the cage to give UVa the lead 4:48 into the game. Again UNC won the draw but an overthrown pass was picked up by Meredith Lazarus, who started a fast break that saw Tyler Leachman feed Kate Breslin. Breslin’s goal came two minutes after Young’s and gave the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead. After another UNC draw, Kim Connors picked up a missed catch and at the other end of the field, the Virginia offense settled their attack and got the ball to Appelt, who scored on a take from the top at 13:05 to give Virginia a 3-0 lead and forced the Tar Heels to take a timeout.
Leachman won the ensuing draw and the Cavaliers worked for a shot, but it was saved by Kristen Hordy and the Tar Heels started a clear. Leachman tackled back and was able to knock down a pass at the restraining line. She scooped up the ground ball and got the ball to Young, who in turn fed Cary Chasney, who was cutting down the arc. Chasney eluded a defender and fired a shot to the far upper corner for Virginia’s fourth goal of the game, giving UVa a 4-0 lead 14:29. UNC then scored two goals in a span of 1:15 as Stephanie Scurachio scored off an 8-meter free position and then Kelly Renzi capitalized on a Virginia broken clear to pull the Tar Heels within two at 20:21.
The Cavaliers answered as Chasney won the draw control and Virginia worked the ball to Appelt, who chose a good time to notch the 300th point of her career. She performed her signature crease roll and scored 1:13 after Renzi to move the margin back to three at 5-2. A Juras goal off an assist from Nikki Barnes-Wagner at 25:52 made the halftime score 5-3.
Connors won the opening draw of the second half and the Cavaliers set their attack. She eventually got the ball back at the top of the fan and tried to dump the ball into Leachman. The ball tipped off Leachman’s stick and over Hordy, who had gone down to pick up the potential loose ball, into the cage for a goal at 33:18. On UNC’s next possession, Urlock chased down an errant shot behind the cage and earned possession for the Cavaliers. Virginia brought the ball upfield where Appelt fed a cutting Connors, who notched a goal two minutes after her assist to Leachman to give UVa a 7-3 lead. Nikki Lieb then won her second consecutive draw control and the Cavaliers got the ball to Appelt, who again rolled under and scored her third goal of the game just 65 seconds after she assisted Connors, staking Virginia to an 8-3 lead. Dodson won the next draw-Virginia’s fourth consecutive to start the second half-and the Cavaliers brought the ball upfield. UNC gained possession but threw it away as Lazarus picked off a clearing pass and brought the ball back above the restraining line. Virginia reworked the offense and Chasney fed a cutting Lieb, who scored at 38:28 to give the Hoos a 9-3 lead.
Another interception at the restraining line led to the Cavaliers next goal. This time it was Elizabeth Pinney who picked off the clearing pass, giving the Cavaliers another look in the offense. Virginia got the ball to Leachman, who scored her second goal of the game at 45:10, putting the Hoos up 10-3. Gina Allen then scored on an 8-meter free position goal to end the 22-minute scoring drought for Carolina.
Dodson then outraced a Carolina attacker for possession on a missed catch at the goal line extended, and at the other end of the field Lieb rolled the crease for her second goal of the game to push the margin back to seven at 11-4 with 7:45 to play in the game. Carolina closed out the scoring as Renzi scored her second goal of the game on a take from the left side of the arc 48 seconds after Lieb, but the Cavalier defense stiffened and did not allow another UNC goal.
Appelt becomes just the 17th person in Division I history to notch 300 points in a career and now has 213 goals and 89 assists for 302 career points. She passed former Garden City teammate Erin Elbe on the all-time career goals list as Elbe had 211 in her four years at Georgetown.
Chasney’s two points moved her up to ninth on the all-time scoring charts, moving her past All-American Cyn Mathes, who had 160 in her national championship career at Virginia from 1988-1991.
The Cavaliers return to action on Tuesday, March 22 as they take on in-state rival William & Mary. Game time against the Tribe is 7:00 at Klockner Stadium. The #20 Tribe is coached by Tara (Kelly) Brown, who played on both the 1991 and 1993 national championship teams at Virginia.
Linescore 1 2 F recordsVirginia 5 6 11 (4-1, 2-0 ACC)UNC 3 2 5 (6-2, 1-1 ACC)
Scoring summary:4:48 VA Young — 1-06:45 VA Breslin Leachman 2-013:05 VA Appelt — 3-014:29 VA Chasney — 4-018:06 NC Scurachio 8m 4-120:21 NC Renzi — 4-221:34 VA Appelt — 5-3 Appelt’s 300th career point33:18 VA Leachman Connors 6-335:50 VA Connors Appelt 7-336:55 VA Appelt — 8-338:28 VA Lieb Chasney 9-345:10 VA Leachman — 10-347:47 NC Allen, G. 8m 10-452:15 VA Lieb — 11-453:03 NC Renzi — 11-5
Scoring: VA: Appelt 3-1=4, Leachman 2-1=3, Lieb 2-0=2, Connors 1-1=2, Chasney 1-1=2; Breslin 1-0=1, Young 1-0=1 NC: Renzi 2-0=2, Scurachio 1-0=1, Gina Allen 1-0=1, Juras 1-0=1, Barnes-Wagner 0-1=1
Keepers: VA: Miles (60 mins, 15 saves, 5 GA) NC: Hordy (60 mins, 11 saves, 11 GA)
Shots: VA 26, NC 28Draws: VA 8, UNC 10Ground balls: VA 17, NC 15Turnovers: VA 13, NC 11Caused turnovers: VA 4, NC 6Fouls: VA 9, NC 178-meter free position attempts: VA 6, NC 68-meter free position shots: VA 6, NC 4Clearing: VA 12-20, NC 9-15